Roy Hodgson’s 29 terrible Euro decisions that proved he was out of his depth and cost England their place at Euro 2016
Former England boss made mistake after mistake that led to humiliating defeat at the hands of Iceland
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ENGLAND are out of Euro 2016.
Despite only playing Russia, Wales, Slovakia and Iceland, the Three Lions managed to win just one game - and even that needed a lucky injury time winner.
Roy Hodgson quit as England boss after the humiliating defeat to Iceland in the last-16 on Monday night, the worst exit England have ever suffered in tournament football.
Hundreds of millions of pounds worth of talent was unable to beat a team with an identity, one Premier League player, a lot more effort and a manager with a coherent plan.
What's more, England's overpaid, under-performing squad barely even managed to register a decent chance.
The players have to shoulder a huge amount of the blame - but Roy Hodgson, who was the highest paid coach at the tournament with an annual salary of £3.5million - deserves the most.
He was useless.
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As he had been at the 2014 World Cup when he somehow kept his job despite England falling out at the group stage.
A very good, if very easy, qualifying campaign raised some hope for this tournament - before Hodgson's ineptitude again cost England.
The Three Lions won 10 games out of 10, keeping eight clean sheets, in qualifying.
Since then it has been all downhill.
Here are Hodgson's crimes...
1) England put too much stock into the 3-2 win in Germany - they fought back well but it wasn't a great performance. That lead Hodgson to believe two strikers could be the future rather than the tried and trusted 4-3-3.
2) Hodgson didn't put enough stock into the 2-1 defeat to the Netherlands, where the diamond was clearly nullified by a second-string Holland team that didn't even qualify for the Euros.
3) Convinced that Premier League stars Jamie Vardy and Harry Kane both had to start, Hodgson then decided to play a diamond in the three pre-tournament friendlies. England played poorly in each game, despite winning all three.
4) Roy Hodgson then picked his squad based on the supposition that he would stick with a diamond in the tournament. His squad was hugely imbalanced, with a wealth of strikers and central midfielders and little option on the wing. There was no thought given that England may need a Plan B.
5) Four central strikers (not including Wayne Rooney) were taken. That would be fine if Hodgson intended to stick with playing two up top...
6) Just one winger was picked, Raheem Sterling who had been out of form and out of the Manchester City side in the lead up to the tournament. Andros Townsend, hardly a world beater but someone who was in form and had proven himself very useful as a Plan B for England in the past, was left behind.
7) Ross Barkley was selected despite an indifferent season at Everton, adding to the logjam of central midfielders. Again this was based on the desire to play a diamond - Barkley never played a minute at Euro 2016.
8) Jack Wilshere (141 Premier League minutes) and Jordan Henderson (17 Premier League games) were given too much chance to prove their fitness - they weren't able yet were still picked. The in-form Danny Drinkwater, more of a defensive midfielder than either of those two, was left at home despite being a key player for title winning Leicester City.
9) Believed the hype in picking teenager Marcus Rashford despite him having played played only 18 first-team matches for a desperately poor Manchester United side.
10) The first game comes along and despite playing a diamond in the previous three games and picking a squad to play that way, Hodgson reverts to a 4-3-3, despite having just one winger in the squad. Compare that to Antonio Conte's cerebral Italy, who have impressed everyone by sticking to their 3-5-2 and the principles, no matter the squad lacking the usual glamorous names.
11) Thought that putting 6ft 2in striker Harry Kane on corners - scorer of nine headed goals in the last two seasons - was a good idea. Then he kept Kane on them.
12) Withdraws captain Wayne Rooney with 12 minutes to go despite the captain having an excellent game - brings on an off the pace Wilshere.
13) Leaves Raheem Sterling on for 87 minutes despite the winger barely being able to control the ball in the match.
14) Brings on James Milner for Sterling which only invites more pressure onto the England defence.
15) Plays a clearly fatigued Harry Kane for the full 90 minutes, with the Spurs striker offering nothing. The harder working Jamie Vardy left stuck on the bench despite the Leicester striker surely being a perfect option to put England back on the front foot with his ability to play on the counter attack.
16) Started the same XI against Wales despite obvious flaws in the game plan. (Note: makes one of the few good decisions of the tournament to boldly change Kane and Sterling at half-time).
17) England beat Wales but then the Three Lions lose all momentum from the late winner by making six changes to the starting line-up against Slovakia.
18) Wilshere again proves he isn't match sharp enough to compete with even modest opponents.
19) Jordan Henderson proves he is what he is - a hard-working midfielder with little ability to create chances. Is there a need for him and James Milner in the squad?
20) Takes off Adam Lallana just an hour into the game despite the Liverpool player being of the few to show some invention.
21) After Slovakia held on for a draw England went through as group runners-up but got lucky enough to face minnows Iceland. Hodgson, in his infinite wisdom, reverts back to Harry Kane and Raheem Sterling despite the pair showing nothing in the tournament.
22) Keeps Sturridge, poor against Slovakia, out of position on the right wing and drops Adam Lallana. One of the few players to exceed expectations in the group stage.
23) Despite all the pre-match talk about Iceland (they are a hard-working team, good at set-pieces, watch the long throws), England are undone by the VERY FIRST Aron Gunnasson long throw. the very first one. There is so much wrong - Wayne Rooney (5ft 9in) is the man to challenge Kari Arnason (6ft 3in), why wasn't that Chris Smalling (6ft 4in)? Kyle Walker is caught ball watching. Rather than trying to claim the ball at hits zenith Joe Hart stands still as Ragnar Sigurdsson scores from three yards. What's worse, England didn't learn from the mistake. Early in the second half the exact same thing almost brings another Iceland goal. Where was the adjustment from the coach?
24) With England 2-1 down against Iceland at half-time Roy Hodgson gives his inspirational team-talk to galvanise his troops, facing the most humiliating defeat in England history. We don't know what was said, but the second half performance said it all about his motivational skills.
25) Gives YET ANOTHER chance to Jack Wilshere despite the midfielder showing nothing in the tournament. The Arsenal man endures another poor game.
26) Rather than turn to the invention and nous of Adam Lallana, throws on Jamie Vardy in the hope that having four strikers on the pitch may bring a goal - no worry that Kane, Vardy and Sturridge all operate in the same area and need someone to service them.
27) Continues to put Harry Kane on set-pieces despite the striker leaving his shooting boots in north London.
28) A winger could have been handy. England play through the middle and struggle to create any chances. Waits until the 86th minute to bring on Marcus Rashford against Iceland. The striker, playing out of position on the left, causes problems to Iceland winning a couple of corners. Bringing on Rashford earlier - or having an actual winger to bring on - could have changed the outcome of the game.
29) Trots out a pre-planned, 300 word statement to announce his resignation from the England job. When was that statement written? Was there that little confidence in his ability to beat Iceland that Hodgson wrote it BEFORE the game?
So there you have it, England never had a chance under the dithering, clueless Hodgson.
Now we wait to see which way the Football Association goes in their search for a new manager...
